For hot sleepers, hopping into bed during the summertime—or wintertime, no judgment!—can be the worst part of the day. Cool, crisp sheets only go so far in keeping your temperature down while you snooze. A good option for people who tend to get sweaty while they sleep is a cooling mattress topper. After experiencing mind-numbing body heat in the middle of the night for the first time in my life, I turned to the ExceptionalSheets Bamboo Mattress Pad and tried it out for a week to see if it could help. At the end of the week, I felt like the ExceptionalSheets pad helped a little bit. I did notice that I woke up less during the night and wasn’t as tangled in my sheets in the morning, but there are some drawbacks. Read on for everything there is to know about this mattress pad option, and whether or not it’s worth the investment.
Material: “Plush” rayon that could be a bit more plush
This mattress pad is made up of rayon with a bamboo cover and filled with a hypoallergenic down alternative called Revoloft Cluster Fiber—basically individual polyester pellets that are better for your sinuses than animal down. The fitted skirt is made of 76% polyester, 16% nylon, and 8% spandex mix. I did notice a difference with the hypoallergenic materials. My sinuses tend to act up all throughout the summer, and I did go an entire week without desperately digging for some allergy medication when I first woke up. To touch, the mattress pad was soft but not as plush as I would have liked. I’m a “firm mattress person,” but a down-alternative mattress pad should be fluffier in my opinion. One thing that really could be improved is the backside of the pad, which is made of 30% percent cotton and 70% polyester. I, along with other online reviewers, ripped the back material trying to reposition the mattress pad. It seems to be made of the same material as inexpensive airplane pillow covers.
Design: Fitted skirt is a handy touch
There’s a basic fitted skirt sewn into the mattress pad, which is a nice touch. It’s designed to fit mattresses that are 18-inches thick. There was no sliding or slipping off of the bed with this one. The overall design aesthetic of this mattress pad is simple—there are no frills or fun design additions. It looks like something that’s going to be covered up by a fitted sheet, as it should be. The distribution of the alternative down is a bit frustrating. I found some areas bumpier than others, which got a bit painful over time. It was relatively easy to fix these problem areas, but the thought of doing so in the middle of the night was usually less attractive than trying to sleep through it.
Texture: Adds some pressure
The material on the back of the mattress pad gave me chills (the bad kind). It feels like rough tissue paper and is about as durable as that as well. The front of the mattress pad is much better and it does have a good amount of padding. One thing I did like was how the mattress pad gave my mattress a bit of texture. My Lull Mattress is wonderful, but the top of it isn’t divided in any way. I find myself with specific areas of soreness at times and it was nice to be able to dig into a slight crevice to add some extra soft pressure on the painful spots of my body. I’m not saying this helped me wake up feeling better, but it did relieve some general muscle soreness at the moment. All of this is to say, if you’re not used to having a textured mattress, you will notice a change in feel with this mattress pad. Take a look at our guide to the best king mattresses you can buy.
Washing: Easy, but you won’t like the result
I gave this mattress pad one wash after a week of use to see how it would go, and it did not go to plan. When I removed it from the dryer, I noticed a rip on the backside of the pad. Technically, this won’t affect the performance of the pad, but it is a bummer that it only took one wash. In terms of the washing process, I put it in a gentle cycle with warm water. To dry, I set it on a gentle tumble. It does get quite twisted when it’s wet, which is how I’m assuming it got torn. It’s probably best to hand-wash or even aggressively spot clean this mattress topper rather than throw it in the washer.
Durability: It’s not going to last
As previously mentioned, if you plan on washing this mattress topper (which you really should), don’t count on it lasting long. This was perhaps the most disappointing part about the product. I wasn’t totally in love with how it felt as I slept, mainly because I wish it were a bit fluffier, but this tipped my scale into not liking the mattress topper at all. It comes down to it being an overall thin mattress pad—every component of the topper feels like it would be easily snagged (and was, at some point in the wash).
Features: Hypoallergenic and water-resistant
I never thought I would appreciate a water-resistant mattress topper, but I also never used to be a person who would blindly try to sip from her water in the middle of the night. This mattress topper did save my actual mattress from at least one water stain over the course of a week. I’m here for that. As previously mentioned, this mattress topper is hypoallergenic, and I would certainly still choose it over a non-hypoallergenic option, even given the quality downfalls.
Price: On the more expensive side
There are a lot of cooling mattress topper options out there, and the ExceptionalSheets option actually comes in at a higher price than average, which is kind of a bummer given the lack of quality. You can find a king mattress topper for under $100, but if you want one you can count on for quality that won’t fall apart when it’s washed, prepare to shell out upwards of $200. It may take some more time to research, but spend time reaching out to the brand and asking about the materials used in all aspects of the product. I never thought the material lining the back of the mattress pad would become an obstacle, but it very clearly was.
ExceptionalSheets Bamboo Mattress Pad vs. Red Nomad Home Ultra Premium Mattress Protector
Take a peek at more of the best cooling mattress pads and covers. If you’re looking for a plush cooling mattress topper that’s going to last a long time, the ExceptionalSheets Bamboo Mattress Pad falls short, but it’s hypoallergenic property makes it worth looking at for limited use.
